Striker once linked with Brendan Rodgers’ Celtic, now has two goals in two seasons

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Celtic’s transfer recruitment over the years has divided opinion.

One thing that can’t be argued is that Celtic have made their transfer policy work, it’s just sometimes, fans have been impatient and wanted the powers that be to show a bit more.

That’s because Celtic have dominated on the domestic stage, whether it’s Neil Lennon’s first spell or Brendan Rodgers’ return.

Position	Team	Played MP	Won W	Drawn D	Lost L	For GF	Against GA	Diff GD	Points Pts
1	CelticCeltic	30	24	3	3	89	20	69	75
2	RangersRangers	30	19	5	6	62	28	34	62
3	HibernianHibernian	30	11	11	8	45	41	4	44
4	AberdeenAberdeen	30	12	7	11	38	46	-8	43

As a result, there have been calls for those ready-made stars to be signed rather than those unknown players, who take their time to progress, before transforming into superstars.

There have been many success stories, from the rise of Nicolas Kuhn, to the unbelievable performances, and then the record sale of, Matt O’Riley.

Those have been the ones Celtic have got right, but then there are other deals the club decided not to pursue and they have now proved to be a blessing in disguise.

• READ MORE: Celtic told it’s a ‘worry’ that ‘amazing’ player might join Ange Postecoglou at Tottenham

Sydney van Hooijdonk’s struggles since Celtic links

Van Hooijdonk is a legendary name at Celtic after Pierre spent several years at the club, including winning the Scottish Cup.

But around 2023, rumours started surfacing that Celtic were keen on Sydney van Hooijdonk – son of Pierre – when he was out balling in Bologna.

At the time, the Hoops were in no rush to push the button because Kyogo Furuhashi was thriving, before Adam Idah was signed 18 months ago.

During that time, van Hooijdonk junior has spent several seasons out on loan, including at Norwich City, before making another transfer this winter.

van Hooijdonk’s goal record since Celtic links

When van Hooijdonk was first linked with Celtic, he had scored 16 in 33 matches in the Eredivisie and was showing serious promise.

But life has been rather different since then because he has gone from playing in Italy’s second tier to the English championship at Norwich City.

During the last two years, van Hooijdonk has two goals to his name, most recently scoring for Breda before the international break, so perhaps Celtic got lucky with this one.

Competition		Games	Goals	Assists	Minutes
	Championship	10	–	1	123′
	Serie A	9	–	–	207′
	Italy Cup	2	1	–	175′
	Championship Play-Offs	2	–	–	15′
	Premier League 2	1	–	–	90′
Total 23/24:		24	1	1	610′

Competition		Games	Goals	Assists	Minutes
	Series B	13	–	–	249′
	Eredivisie	9	1	–	709′
	Italy Cup	2	–	–	156′
Total 24/25:		24	1	–	1,114′